ohmydaysohmydaysohmydays A NEW HOUSE

[reservoirdawg]

It's not new, it's seven hours away from home, it'd be a second home boohiss until we retire, it needs a lot of work. It's been on the market for a year and has no kitchen. It's so remote we'd need a starlink to be able to work or call an ambulance.
I have the visual equivalent of a tin ear when it comes to decorating and I'm so excited I could cry (I did cry when we visited)

DO NOT touch the dark woodwork of the skirts and architraves. In Western Australia, that’s a big asset. It’s very possible you have our lovely hardwood called jarrah (aka Swan River Mahogany) as it was exported in large quantities. It’s beautiful.

The pine door in the background, however, umm, not quite the same.

@TheSandgroper thats exactly the sort of advice I want because it’s a massive, expensive messy job to fix it. However it really is hideous. And multicoloured 🤦🏻‍♀️

@reservoirdawg I will only offer advice on the skirts and arcs. (listen to me sounding like Kevin McCloud). Anything else is up to you and info from someone who knows more than me.

I am listening @TheSandgroper-
just trying to picture how to retain the architraves but smarten up the pine.

Can the arcs and skirts come off with a jemmy to be sanded and sealed, sort the rest of the room and put them back? Be aware it’s a very hard wood - see Grand Designs lifeboat station episode because that comes across the same wood.

I think the wood frame looks like pine tbh. The dark frames around the doors might also be pine but just stained or painted darker. I'd try taking off a smaller piece and sand it back to see what you have. I bought some oil wax to use on untreated wood which gives it a lovely sheen, slightly darkens it, and protects it, which might work well on your wood frames.

@longtompot the bits I’ve sanded and oiled have come up quite patchy. I’m so tempted to just grab a big pot of dark eggshell and several tubes of caulk and make it lovely and plain and even. The pictured window was definitely pine and upvc and the doors are my attempts to sand and oil oiled

Could you post a link to it, please?

It's amazing what a difference sanding will make (messy though)

Here

Thank you!

Jus placemarking on the laptop before I upload more photos. Still in love!

Otter and heron, a bougied up lobby stove top cooking when the power was down. !

When we bought our little wood stove, I was adamant that it had a flat top for cooking if necessary.

Love the wallpaper!

I do like that wallpaper series.

DH was up when the storm hit- we were out of power for a few days. On the second day he drove and collected me from Carlisle as trains weren’t going north of the border. He’d had cold baked beans the night before, walked 3 miles to pick up the car as access was blocked by a tree. We stopped at a pub with power to eat. I got there, cooked up a storm (flat top!) and the power came back half an hour later.
Another time I was trapped there for 3 days- blew out a tyre on 2 mile access road!

Nearly two years!
I worked out the other day we’ve had over 40 guests and spend about a third of the time here. I’m often here alone and have helped out on the farm and am in various local communities. Still completely in love with it all!

Do you plan on retiring there? What about access to hospitals etc?

Lots of older people around! My parents and dc are in london, so once we despatch the remaining boomerang child we’ll downsize the family house I’ve never loved to a flat in London. The previous owner was late 70’s when he left, my parents are in their 80’s and happily stay here with and without us so that’s a problem for the far future.
And for now DH and I can often wfh from here.

Brilliant thread! Love what you have done to your cottage. Do you have any more photos? How often do you go up there?

Every time I’m asked for pictures, I think I must curate them! I’ve got 1,000s on my phone, a real mixture of breathtaking views and specific reminders to research random ironmongery etc.
Inside is lovely, but I haven’t taken so many pictures!
We come up most weekends taking the train up after work on Thursday and wfh Friday and Monday.

Ha, not sure if any pics have loaded, will check back.

Slowly uploading!

And a couple of interiors.
The tiling is stick on, the kitchen second hand.
And the display cupboard had plywood doors on it and was a hidden dumping ground for paint etc. I spent a weekend taking off the doors and painting it (three coats)
I've painted everything one colour to avoid edges! Next project is collecting and sorting cushions for an Ercol sofa I won at a Glasgow auction for £10